Ernest Chinwo
The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas Limited (NLNG), Tony Attah, has said at least 55 per cent of the scope of work of the Train 7 Project will be domiciled and domesticated in Nigeria.
He said the feat was in demonstration of the improved capacity of Nigerian companies and personnel in the oil and gas sector of the economy to handle high end technical projects, as a result of the efforts of the Nigeria Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) and its Executive Secretary, Simbi Wabote.
Attah made the revelation in Port Harcourt during a reception by the Junior Chambers International (JCI) in honour of Wabote on his reappointment for a second term of four years by President Muhammadu Buhari.
The Managing Director, who showered accolades on the Executive Secretary, noted that it was the commitment and doggedness of Wabote and the NCDMB that ensured the commencement of the Train 7 project, stated that their commitment resulted in signing the project in May 13, 2020 when the entire world was shut down due to the ravages of the Covid- 19 pandemic.
“The Executive Secretary took it personally upon himself to push for the success and we appreciate that and I must thank you very much for the wonders that you have done to the extent that when the contract was signed, May 13th this year that was right in the middle of the Covid-19 situation when the entire world was at a standstill”, he stated.
He went on to observe; “The world was shut down but the Executive Secretary was determined that Train 7 would not be shut down. He pushed hard to the extent that contract was signed against all odds when more than 50 per cent of all the other projects were cancelled or postponed across the world.
“To date only one LNG contract has been taken across the world, so you can understand the game changing capacity that the Executive Secretary has caused to happen, for Nigeria, for Nigerians, for Nigerian LNG and most importantly for the Niger Delta”.
Highlighting the importance of the Train 7 project to the Nigerian economy, the NLNG Managing Director stated: “I dare say that without the support of the Executive Secretary, personally committing, we may not have Train 7 today.
“Train 7 means 12,000 jobs directly and based on the board’s calculation 40,000 additional jobs indirectly.
“Let me dimension it for you, the relative peace that the entire Niger Delta enjoys today called the Amnesty Proramme was 35,000 people who were positively put to some good and employment. So think about one project that is bringing the opportunity of 50,000 people directly or indirectly being gainfully employed then you understand what this man has done for Nigeria and did for Niger Delta.
“On top of that we are talking 55 per cent of that scope will be domiciled and domesticated and Nigerians will be directly involved in more than half of the scope of this particular project and we are talking of over $10-billion in terms of the overall Train 7 investment”.
He also revealed that LPG consumption rate of Nigeria was about three million tons per annum with a potential of five million tons, pointing out that with the partnership of the NCDMB under Wabote, the NLNG has encouraged the establishment of 16 off-takers of LPG and built a wholly Nigerian-owned LPG vessel.
Speaking at the reception, Wabote said working as the boss of the NCDMB for him had been exciting and challenging, noting that it was not easy to cross from the private sector to work in the public sector in Nigeria.
